Emerging Nations Lead a Boom
新興國家帶頭推動航空旅遊
By Jad Mouawad

From Asia to Africa to the Middle East and the Americas, the business of business travel is booming in emerging countries. And it shows. Dubai expanded its airport recently with a new terminal paved with white marble. Similarly, Beijing greets foreign travelers with a gleaming and spacious new international terminal.
從亞洲、非洲、中東以至美洲，商務旅行業務在新興國家的開展方興未艾。有事實為證。杜拜機場最近增建一座鋪有白色大理石的新航站。同樣，北京也以一座光鮮寬敞的新國際航站迎接各國旅客。

Istanbul is refashioning itself as a modern transportation hub with better connections to Asia than rivals in the United States or Europe. And Brazil is pouring billions into infrastructure as it prepares to host the soccer World Cup next year and the Olympic Games in 2016.
伊斯坦堡正改頭換面，要做現代化的運輸樞紐，連接亞洲要比美國或歐洲的對手方便。巴西預定明年與2016年分別主辦世界杯足球賽與夏季奧運，目前正大手筆從事基礎建設。

“You really have a changing landscape throughout the developing economies,” said Michael W. McCormick, the executive director of the Global Business Traveler Association. “The infrastructure is clearly racing to catch up with demand.”
全球商務旅行協會（GBTA）理事長麥科米克說：「綜觀各新興經濟體，面貌正在改變。它們顯然爭相提升基礎建設以趕上需求。」

Business travelers are expected to spend about $1.16 trillion on airfare, accommodations and other travel this year, up from $1.07 trillion last year. Much of that growth is coming from developing nations.
今年，商務旅客花在機票、住宿與其他旅遊方面的總開支預料將達到1.16兆美元，高於去年的1.07兆美元。其中許多成長來自新興國家。

Of course, travel to the developing world holds its share of perils and inconveniences. Roads can be hazardous. Sometimes vaccines and anti-malarial medication may be necessary. Security issues are another consideration. In some places, the risk of kidnapping is real.
當然，前往開發中世界旅遊或出差也有一定的風險與不便。道路可能相當危險。有時候，疫苗與抗瘧疾藥物須隨身攜帶。安全問題是另一考量。在部分地區，外來遊客真有遭綁票的可能。

Other hazards presented by a rise in global travel include rapid disease transmission and pandemics. The latest threat emerged in China, where a new influenza infected dozens and killed at least 17 people recently. Another virus was recently identified in the Middle East.
全球旅行量增加衍生的風險還包括疾病與各種傳染病迅速散播。最新的威脅來自中國大陸，新型的H7N9流感病毒最近在當地造成數十人感染，至少17人不治。另有一種病毒最近在中東地區獲得確認。

Air traffic last year grew by 7.5 percent in Asia, 7.3 percent in Latin America, 6.4 percent in Africa and 13 percent in the Middle East, outpacing Western airports, according to the Airports Council International, a trade group. Five airports in emerging markets, each with more than 40 million annual passengers, reported double-digit growth: Istanbul, Dubai, Jakarta, Bangkok and Singapore.
國際機場協會指出，亞洲去年的空中交通量成長7.5%，拉丁美洲增加7.3%，非洲與中東地區各增加6.4%、13%，超越西方國家的機場。新興市場有五座機場成長達兩位數字，年吞吐量都超過4000萬人次，分別是伊斯坦堡、杜拜、雅加達、曼谷與新加坡。

Passengers at Beijing Capital International Airport tripled in the last decade, and most travel experts expect that it will jump ahead of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as the world’s top airport by passenger traffic next year. China will have overtaken the United States as the world’s top business travel market.
北京首都國際機場過去10年間旅客吞吐量激增為三倍，多數專家並認為它可於明年超越亞特蘭大的哈特斯菲爾德-傑克森國際機場，成為舉世旅客吞吐量最大的機場。屆時，中國大陸將取代美國，成為全球最大的商務旅行市場。

In Brazil, business travel spending has tripled since 2000 and is expected to reach $34.5 billion this year, according to the Global Business Travel Association. At that pace, the country is set to overtake France, Britain and Italy in travel spending in the next two years.
GBTA指出，在巴西，商務旅行開支2000年至今累計增至三倍，今年預計可以達到345億美元。如果增速不變，未來兩年內巴西的旅行開支將超越法國、英國與義大利。

But while air travel is going through its safest period in its history, flying in developing parts of the world remains perilous. With just 3 percent of global traffic, airlines in Africa accounted for 17 percent of airline crashes last year.
另一方面，雖然空中旅行安全性處於歷來最佳階段，在部分開發中地區旅行仍有風險。非洲空運量僅占全球的3%，去年發生的墜機空難卻占全球的17%。

That poor safety record, which reflects improvements in recent years, is hurting the region’s economic potential, said Tony Tyler of the International Air Transport Association.
飛安紀錄足以反映近年的改善情形。國際航空運輸協會的泰勒表示，如此不良的紀錄會傷害非洲的經濟潛力。

Hotel infrastructure is often inadequate, resulting in room shortages and high rates. A persistent shortage of rooms helped make Moscow the most expensive city for business travelers for the ninth consecutive year in 2012. Lagos, Nigeria, came in second. The Radisson Hotel in the city’s Victoria Island neighborhood advertises a standard room at about $410 a night.
飯店方面基礎設施通常也不足，產生房間不敷使用與收費偏高的問題。莫斯科飯店房間長期不足，以致去年連續第九年名列對商務旅客而言開銷最高的城市。奈及利亞的拉哥斯排名居次。拉哥斯維多利亞島社區拉迪森飯店的一間標準房間每晚要價約410美元。

But the hotel scene in emerging markets is improving as big hotel chains move in. Starwood Hotels plans 100 new hotels in China over the next few years. Last year, Marriott outlined a $2 billion, three-year plan to open new hotels around the world with an emphasis on emerging nations.
不過隨著大型連鎖飯店進駐，新興市場在這方面已有改善。喜達屋飯店連鎖計畫未來幾年在中國大陸興建100家飯店。去年，萬豪連鎖酒店公布一項耗資20億美元的三年計畫，準備在全球開設新飯店，以新興國家為重點。

Major airlines are also responding to the demand. United Airlines has unveiled a new service between Houston to Lagos. Delta Air Lines will start daily nonstop flights between Seattle and Shanghai in June. Air France, just introduced a new service between Paris and Kuala Lumpur. And Lufthansa will soon fly between Frankfurt and Shanghai five times a week.
主要航空公司也開始對需求有所反應。聯合航空準備開闢休士頓與拉哥斯之間的航線。達美航空將於這個月開闢西雅圖與上海之間的每日直飛航線。法航最近新闢巴黎與吉隆坡之間的航線。德國漢莎航空則即將飛航法蘭克福與上海之間，每周五趟。

Airlines are also expanding their international alliances to offer better connections and more destinations. Star Alliance, the largest of the three major global alliances, added Shenzhen Airlines, Avianca of Columbia and Eva Air of Taiwan.
為了提供更好的轉機服務與連結更多目的地，各航空公司也積極擴大國際聯盟關係。星空聯盟是舉世三大航空聯盟當中規模最大的，最近相繼吸引深圳航空、哥倫比亞航空與台灣的長榮航空加入。

“I am absolutely sure the future growth of our business is in Asia,” said Dr. Jurgen Weber, the chairman of Lufthansa. “Living standards are going up and it turns out that the Chinese like to travel even more than the Japanese do.”
漢莎航空董事長韋伯博士說：「我百分之百確定，我們未來的業務成長會在亞洲。民眾的生活水準不斷提高，而且事實證明中國人甚至比日本人更喜歡外出旅遊。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/01/business/airports-and-hotels-in-emerging-markets-outpace-the-west.html

2013-06-04聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報八版右